Billions In Blood Money: Romualdez Falls — And The Wait Begins For The Next Name On The List

Billions In Blood Money: Romualdez Falls — And The Wait Begins For The Next Name On The List

EDITORIAL – TheNATIONWEEK.com | September 10, 2026

MANILA, Philippines — He spent billions buying loyalty, doling out patronage, and building a fortress of influence — yet on his first night as a Person Deprived of Liberty (PDL) facing non-bailable plunder charges, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez stood entirely alone. Not a single ally, protégé, or beneficiary of his generosity kept vigil. Not one issued a statement of support. Not one stood outside the hospital doors. The silence was deafening — and for millions of Filipinos, it was also revealing.

The Ombudsman accuses Romualdez, along with former appropriations chair Zaldy Co and two others, of amassing at least ₱7.44 billion in kickbacks, commissions, and illicit benefits — with the true haul estimated to be as high as ₱56–57 billion — funneled largely from flood-control and infrastructure contracts between 2022 and 2025. Prosecutors say the money was converted into mansions, luxury properties, and stock holdings to hide its origin — wealth accumulated while deadly floods submerged vast swathes of the country, killing dozens and displacing hundreds of thousands. Plunder carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and the Sandiganbayan has already ordered his arrest with no bail allowed.

Romualdez remains confined at Cardinal Santos Medical Center, where authorities say he is being treated for a cardiovascular event, hypertension, and anxiety — a medical status his lawyers cite to argue he should not be transferred to the New Quezon City Jail alongside others accused in the flood-control corruption scandal. But a growing public outcry demands clarity: when does illness become a shield from accountability? No Filipino — regardless of rank, wealth, or political lineage — should be permitted to turn a private hospital suite into a permanent sanctuary from the law. As one medical professional observed, the integrity of the health system and the trust of the people must never be weaponized to evade justice.

The Silence Of The Grateful

Most striking of all is the total absence of the very lawmakers who once sang his praises. Where is Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, who once declared with effusive gratitude that “blessings poured like rain” over her district “because of Speaker Romualdez”? Where are her now-famous lines — “Kaya may AICS dahil kay Speaker. Kaya may AKAP dahil kay Speaker. Kaya may TUPAD dahil kay Speaker” — now that the man she credited with every government benefit stands accused of looting the treasury? Her silence is not merely conspicuous; it is damning. If the programs she celebrated were truly his gift, why is there not a word in his defense? Or was that gratitude never genuine — only a performance for political survival?

And Luistro is not alone. Where are the Tricom and Quadcom lawmakers? Where is Jude Acidre, once his closest ally? Where are the bloggers, the influencers, the “Tingog” supporters who once filled social media with his praise? Where are the powerful figures who owed their seats, their budgets, and their influence entirely to him? Every single one has vanished.

The contrast is unavoidable. Rodrigo Duterte — whose arrest and detention at The Hague Romualdez is widely believed to have orchestrated — has remained surrounded by family, friends, and supporters since his first day in custody. His loved ones travel thousands of miles to stand by him; his supporters hold vigil; a street near his detention center has been named in his honor. He is accused of no less grave crimes, yet he has never been abandoned. Romualdez, by contrast — armed with billions, armed with power — has no one. Because loyalty bought with money vanishes the moment the money stops flowing. You can purchase allegiance, but not devotion. You can hire defenders, but not friends. You can pay for praise, but never for love.

Who Is Next?

That is the question now echoing across the nation: If Romualdez — the second most powerful man in Congress, the President’s cousin — stands charged with plunder, who else is waiting in the wings? Which other lawmakers, officials, and contractors enriched themselves while flood-control projects failed, ghost projects were funded, and communities drowned? The evidence points to a vast, coordinated network of corruption — one man cannot steal billions alone.

The flood-control scandal is not the work of one person. It is a systemic rot woven into the very machinery of government. It is the sum of ghost projects, substandard materials, inflated contracts, and kickbacks paid at every level — all while Filipinos died in floodwaters, contracted leptospirosis, and lost their homes and livelihoods. Every peso stolen was a life not saved, a barrier not built, a community left exposed.

Romualdez’s fall is not the end — it is only the beginning. The public is watching, and the list of those who benefited from his regime is long. Luistro and others who sang his praises must now answer what they knew, when they knew it, and at what cost they accepted his patronage. No one is above the law — not the powerful, not the well-connected, not the ones who once controlled the purse strings.

Last April 21, following the Ombudsman’s request to the Sandiganbayan to issue a precautionary hold departure order to prevent him from traveling overseas, Romualdez broke his calculated silence by issuing a video message adamantly rejecting accusations of masterminding the ₱56-billion flood control corruption scheme. “I will not allow myself to be turned into the scapegoat so that others who are actually accountable can walk away clean,” he said. “If this is a political play to push me out and close the story, tarnishing my name and my reputation, then I’m telling everyone now, I will not go quietly, and I will not go alone. I will not be the fall guy for other people’s corruption.”

“How Can I Be The Mastermind?”  

The ex-Speaker also asked, “How can I be the mastermind?” He explained: “Real corruption does not happen at the level of general legislative approval alone. It occurs at the level of execution of the General Appropriations Act. It happens when projects are implemented, when procurement is undertaken, and when monetary disbursements are actually made. It also occurs when substandard projects are passed off as legitimate or when ghost projects are made to appear real. That is why command responsibility is far more logically relevant in the executive branch, where there is actual supervision, operational control, and implementation on the ground, than in the collegial legislative body, where the constitutional role is deliberation and appropriation.”

A Line In The Sand

Whether or not Romualdez is the mastermind and if there are others in the Executive Branch equally liable, the message is clear: Accountability is no longer a distant promise — it has arrived. 

The billions siphoned from public funds will not remain hidden forever. The mansions, the shares, the assets purchased with the people’s money will be traced, seized, and returned. And those who stood by, who benefited, who said nothing — they too will be called to account.

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